This invention relates to a mechanism for covering an automotive vehicle to protect it from the weather elements. The vehicle-covering mechanism comprises a flexible non-porous fabric sheet having a detachable connection with a horizontal axis reel structure. Manual operation of a hand crank associated with the reel structure will cause the fabric sheet to be wound onto the reel structure for compact storage off of the vehicle. The fabric sheet can be pulled off of the reel structure and onto the vehicle, to facilitate placement of the covering sheet around the vehicle.
Prior to our invention others have proposed mechanisms for storing vehicle covering fabric sheets when the covering sheets are not being used to protect the vehicle from the weather elements. N. Persinger U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,423 shows a vehicle cover mechanism installed on the rear bumper of a vehicle. A flexible cover is adapted to be unwound from a drum within a cylindrical casing for extension over the vehicle exterior surface. The arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,423 is disadvantageous in that the cover assembly adds to the overall weight of the vehicle, thereby increasing fuel consumption. Also, the casing for the vehicle cover projects from the vehicle exterior surface so as to make in difficult to maintain a streamlined vehicle appearance. Further, the coil spring retraction mechanism within the drum structure would have to be a relatively heavy high load structure; there is some danger that the coil spring mechanism would inadvertently retract the flexible cover into the cylindrical casing at an inopertune time.
R. Kaplan U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,075 et al. shows a flexible cover mechanism installed on the roof of a vehicle. The mechanism comprises two separate flexible sheets are withdrawable from a central casing 16 in opposite directions to extend over front and rear sections of the vehicle. The arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,075 has some of the disadvantages of the mechanism shown in previously mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,423.
G. Green U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,254 shows a vehicle-covering mechanism that includes a cable 6 having one end connected to a section 2a of a webbing strip 2 that runs along the longitudinal centerline of a flexible cover 1. A counterweight 18 within a hollow post 7 provides a force for pulling cable 6 onto the post. The cable in turn pulls the attached cover 1 against the post. FIG. 5 of the patent drawings shows the cover furled around post 7. It is not entirely clear whether the furling action occurs automatically or by reason of manual rotary manipulation of the cover around the post.
Our proposed vehicle-covering mechanism is designed to have the self-storing feature of the prior art, while being constructible at relatively low cost. The mechanism operates without springs or counterweights.